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“Wild Horizon,” oil painting by Anna Patricia Keller

WILD HORIZON     

Inspired by “Wild Horizon,” oil painting by Anna Patricia Keller

There’s a rugged line in the west today,

a brown-black row of clouds that hovers,

curling into itself like waves

with white caps on a windy sea.

The horizon rises toward the north,

follows a choppy slope of land.

This turbulent sky churns with fate,

pulls itself over the pale and innocent earth.

Brush strokes slide down the

canvas of land, a hint

of late summer’s ochre

tucked away to the side.

We live this wild horizon –

it’s as familiar as the back of our hand,

a line that keeps us company as the days roll on.

Some afternoons, we ride this trail

into a storm of destruction.

but it also sends rain

for the crops

for the rivers

for us.

Past this reckless horizon,

beyond these painted-on clouds,

waits the welcome blue sky of home.

We linger on the front porch

and watch the afternoon turn into

evening, and evening turn into stars.

~ by Cheryl Unruh